It is customary for children to be positioned in a car seat when traveling in a vehicle such as a car or a van when such children are too small to be properly restrained by seat belts in the vehicle that are designed for use by adults.
Similar to a conventional seat that is in the vehicle, the car seat may include a lower portion on which the child sits and an upper portion that is positioned behind the child's back. The lower portion and the upper portion may each be formed with a size that corresponds to the size of the child that is intended to use the car seat.
The car seat may also include a belt system that maintains the child in a relatively stationary position in the car seat. In one such configuration, the belt system includes five points at which the belt attaches to the car seat.
In one common configuration, two attachment points are located adjacent to the child's hips, one attachment point is located between the child's legs and two attachment points are located behind the child's shoulders.
For the belt system to retain the child in the relatively stationary position in the car seat, the belt system must be relatively tight. When the belt system is adjusted for wearing by a child wearing relatively this clothing such as a shirt, the belt system may be too tight when the child is wearing a jacket. Alternatively, when the belt system is adjusted for use by a child who is wearing a jacket, the belt system may be too loose when the child is not wearing the jacket.
Heretofore, there has not been a system that enables the car seat to be used by a child that is or is not wearing a jacket that enables the belt system to be sufficiently tight so that the car seat provides an adequate level of protection to the child in the event the vehicle encounters an accident.